Walnut chocolate babka wreath

I’m very happy that I can share this recipe with you, because it turned out really great. Very tender and buttery yeast dough with a lot of nut and chocolate filling. The filling is so tasty, there are lot of nuts (walnuts and almond, but you can of course use other nuts if you wish) with the addition of chocolate (but its taste is not dominant). It’s very moist due to the addition of an apple and honey. I enriched its taste with cinnamon, brown sugar (along with honey tastes like caramel) and orange zest. Smells and tastes wonderful! The wreath is very large, about 33 cm / 13 inch in diameter, it will be enough for 10-12 people. It would for sure look beautiful on your Christmas table, but it’s also perfect for any other occasion.

Walnut chocolate babka wreath

Very buttery and tender yeast cake with a lot of nut and chocolate filling.

Course Dessert

Cuisine international

Keyword almonds, babka, milk chocolate, walnuts, yeast dough

Prep Time 45minutes

Cook Time 35minutes

resting time 2hours30minutes

Total Time 1hour20minutes

Servings 10people

Calories 6778kcal

Ingredients

for the dough:

40g/ 1.4 oz fresh yeast

100mlwarm milk

500g/ 17.6 oz flour

1teaspoonsalt

2large eggsat room temperature

2large egg yolksor 1 whole smaller egg, a room temperature

90g/ 3 oz sugar

1tablespoonvanilla sugar8g, or 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

100g/ 3.5 oz very soft butter

for the filling:

100g/ 3.5 oz ground almonds

200g/ 7 oz ground walnuts

80g/ 2.8 oz light brown sugar

80g/ 2.8 oz honey

100g/ 3.5 oz buttermelted and warm

1large applepeeled and grated

1teaspooncinnamon

zest grated from 2 large orangespreferably organic

large pinch of salt

100g/ 3.5 oz milk chocolatefinely chopped

egg wash:

1egg

1tablespoonmilk

pearl sugaroptional, for sprinkling

Instructions

Prepare the dough: crumble the yeast in a cup, pour in warm milk and stir (temperature should be about 38°C / 100°F, but not more, it should be pleasantly warm, can’t be too warm or it will kill the yeast or too cold because they won’t work). Set aside for 10 minutes. After this time, using a spoon, mix the flour with salt together then add all the remaining ingredients for the dough, including yeast mixture. Knead until a smooth dough forms, it should be elastic and not stick to your hands. When using a stand mixer fitted with a hook attachment, it should take about 5 minutes, if you make it by hand it will definitely be longer.

The first rise: Cover the bowl with a kitchen cloth and set aside in a warm place, until it doubles its volume. It will take about 1.5-2h.

Prepare the filling: You can use ground nuts or better, ground them yourself: use hole nuts, toast them on a dry pan until they smell nice and are browned, ground them finely in a food processor. Mix all the ingredients for the filling together (add warm butter so tha the chocolate can slightly dissolve).

Assemble the wreath: Roll out the dough into a rectangle measuring approx. 35x45cm / 14×17 inch (it can be longer). Sprinkle the dough well with flour or use a silicone rolling man – the dough won’ t stick to it and additional flour is not necessary. Spread the filling over the dough. Roll up the dough, starting from the long side that is closest to you, into a tube. Cut the roll in half lengthwise, all the way through. Gently wrap each part over the other, like a two-strand braid, then form a wreath. Transfer into a baking tray lined with baking paper. The wreath should be as large as possible, so that the dough with so much filling can properly bake in the inside. You can still stretch the wreath a little on the baking paper (I’ve stretched it a little more than shown on the photos).

The second rise: Set aside for a second rise for 30 minutes (the dough will now only slightly increase its volume). In a bowl, beat an egg with a tablespoon of milk, brush the dough with the egg wash. Optionally, sprinkle with pearl sugar.

In the meantime, set the oven to 180°C / 350°F, Gas Mark 4. Bake for about 35 minutes. After about 20-25 minutes of baking time, check if the cake doesn’t brown too much, if so, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool on a wire rack, allow to cool completely before cutting into portions!

Enjoy!

Notes

– Making the yeast wreath can also be divided into two days. Make the dough and filling on the first day. The dough should be left to rise for about an hour in a warm place, then put it in the fridge. On the next day, remove the dough from the fridge, leave for 30 minutes in a warm place, then roll out and proceed as described in the recipe. Yeast cake, that is allowed to rise for a longer period of time in the fridge, is a little tastier.

– How to freeze the babka wreath. Allow the dough to perform its first rise (leave it in a warm place, until doubled in volume), then wrap in plastic foil and put in the freezer. Make the filling and transfer to a container or wrap in plastic foil, freeze separately. When you want to bake the babka: remove the dough and the filling from the freezer the evening before, put in the fridge. On the next day, take the dough and the filling out of the fridge and leave on a counter for about half an hour to warm up. Roll out the dough, spread the filling over and proceed as described in the recipe.

Walnut chocolate babka wreath – step by step:

Ingredients for the dough: crumble the yeast in a cup, pour in warm milk, stir. Let stand for 10 mins. Knead the dough.

The dough should be smooth, elastic and not stick to your hands. Leave to rise in a warm place.

Ingredients for the filling.

Mix all the ingredients for the filling together.

The dough should double its volume.

Roll out the dough. (it can be longer as shown)

Spread the filling over.

Roll up.

Cut in half lenghtwise.

Wrap the two pieces over each other.

Form a wreath. Leave for the second rise and bake.

Enjoy!

Did you make this recipe? Let mi know how you liked it in the comments below!

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About Me

Hi! I‘m Aleksandra. I believe you should eat delicious food every day! I create quick, simple and sometimes fancy recipes with easy to follow descriptions and step-by-step photos, that every home cook can make. Find out more about me.